UT Plateau AgResearch and Education Center Celebrates 75 Years

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​August
7th Celebration Planned at Steak and Potatoes Field Day

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The University of Tennessee Plateau AgResearch and Education Center is celebrating 75 years of serving the Cumberland Plateau with Real. Life. Solutions. Walt Hitch, center director, is pictured above. ​Im​age courtesy UTIA. Download image​.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ­– While the country was in
the throes of World War II, Tennessee legislators along with Cumberland County
officials were paving the way for research and discovery on the Cumberland Plateau.
The University of Tennessee Plateau AgResearch and Education Center, then known
as the Agricultural Experiment Station, was established in 1943 by an act of
the Tennessee state legislature.

Over the past 75 years, the center has
conducted trials and demonstrations to improve the productivity and
profitability of farms and gardens. The forethought and cooperation of the
state, county, and the University has proven successful as the center continues
to be make discoveries and progress in the study of plant growth at higher
altitudes.

The Plateau AgResearch and Education Center
will host the annual Steak and Potatoes Field Day on Tuesday, August 7, and are
extending an invitation to attend and celebrate all the center has
accomplished. The event is free and open to the public. Programs will run from
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., followed by a sponsored lunch. The luncheon will also
include comments from invited guests, and cake and ice cream as part of the
celebration of the past 75 years.

Walt Hitch, center director, says, “It is our
desire to continue to research relevant and useful topics for the next 75
years, and we are incredibly proud of the legacy of our center. It is a
wonderful example of the progress that can be made when you combine government cooperation
with scientific trial-and-error.”

The Plateau AgResearch and Education Center is
located off of Highway 70N at 320 Experiment Station Road in Crossville. A map
to the facility and complete directions are available online at plateau.tennessee.edu.
The center is one of 10 outdoor laboratories located throughout the state as
part of the UT AgResearch system.

The University of Tennessee Institute of
Agriculture celebrates 50 years of excellence in providing Real. Life.
Solutions. through teaching, discovery and service. ​ag.tennessee.edu​.​